Cancelling or changing a cruise for a sickness in the family...dog?

[Gail & Marty sailing away]

He is your baby, We stayed home for our dog, Do you have Insurance? How did you pay for the cruise Which credit card ? some have a free insurance.

[3DobermansDZS]

Just a heads up.

As a basset owner, just another FYI. I have insurance for the long eared pup, and it buys a lot of peace of mind. If I do have a 4K procedure for pup (and we all know that can, and does happen), the great majority of that would be paid for.

 

We looked into pet insurance after Diesel's TPLO. Proactive, I know. At $30-40/dog for the insurance with all kinds of stipulations (especially with Diesel) it just didn't seem worth it. Instead we started putting aside money each month into a savings account for the dogs veterinary care. It was like we were making this payments but had the money ourselves should some kind of emergency come up and the funds were necessary.

 

I have heard that VPI is pretty good, and am thinking about getting a quote. It may be worth it in the long run.

 

 

 

LOVE it! Well done, BeagleOne!

 

P.s. You all have inspired me to add a pic of my sweet baby as my avatar. That's Pepper the rescue dog. Part Basenji, part Shepherd and/or other rescue dog mix ;), and the BEST thing we ever did (adopting her).

 

What a cutie! I would love for this thread to turn into a form for us pet-loving cruisers!

 

Comments like that indicate to me that they are probably covering for shortcomings in other areas of their lives. I'm just sayin'.

 

I'm a vet and when people say things like that to me they get a good talking-to. Kind of fun when they're being all macho and a woman vet calls them out on it. ;)

 

 

Very well said and you are completely right!

[Winegirl58]

I too am a four legged mommy. Was not blessed with human children, so believe me when I say, my dogs ARE my children. Some people don't get it, but it is their loss as far as I am concerned. I am pretty sure the OP has her situation figured out (this is a long thread, and I can't remember, LOL), but I just have a few comments. When we go on vacation, we board all 3 dogs at a boarding facility that we trust 100%. Our babies always come home happy, which is a great sign. As far as a dog sitter, I would be really careful there. Unless it is someone you personally know and trust. I have heard horror stories of so called dog sitters that just used the home as a party place, and I don't even want to think about the care the doggies got. At our local vet, they have vet techs that will dog sit, and I would tend to trust them more, since they would have the vet to deal with if anything happened to our dogs. At least at our vet they would. I personally have never used one though. If our dog had to have surgery, I would not hesistate to leave my dog at the vet for after surgery care. I think it is the BEST and safest place to be. And to the OP, have a great cruise, give your babies a hug from me, and best wishes on a full and complete recovery!! HUGS!!

[3dogmom]

Shelley, as a dobie mom your story really hit home for me! Two years ago I cancelled a cruise 2 weeks before sailing in order to spend time with my dobie girl (also a red) before I had to put her down due to cancer. Sent my cabin mates mom on the cruise with her - in my place. My dogs mean the world to me too and if I were you I would cancel and not look back.

 

Like others have mentioned...it is so hard to leave them. Even if Diesel is healed well enough to go to the kennel you will be worried about taking him and probably won't enjoy the cruise. I am fortunate enough to also have a wonderful dogsitter/housesitter now so it is a little easier to leave them.

 

I hope Diesel is doing better soon!!!! He is just beautiful and I love the natural ears :) He reminds me so much of my Baylee and I hope you enjoy him for many years to come :D

 

Linda,

 

Since we live in the same area, can you please email me your dogsitter/housesitter? threedogdunedin at yahoo dot com

 

Thanks so much!

[birdylady]

We looked into pet insurance after Diesel's TPLO. Proactive, I know. At $30-40/dog for the insurance with all kinds of stipulations (especially with Diesel) it just didn't seem worth it. Instead we started putting aside money each month into a savings account for the dogs veterinary care. It was like we were making this payments but had the money ourselves should some kind of emergency come up and the funds were necessary.

 

I have heard that VPI is pretty good, and am thinking about getting a quote. It may be worth it in the long run.

 

What a cutie! I would love for this thread to turn into a form for us pet-loving cruisers!

First, yes, insurance isn't cheap for critters. Especially when you have multiples and they are larger dogs and of course with any pre-existing conditions.

With that said, let me offer my experience with VPI. We bought it for Auggie when he was just a few months old in 2002. Last year when I went to price for Cody (the pup we rescued last fall) the price was WAY higher with different co-pay deductible structure and higher annual costs. I didn't even see the 'real' basic plan we had. So I called and asked. They said what I had was their basic plan that they don't advertise but it was still available. That brought the price back down to reasonable. The plan I have is called the 'Standard Plan' costs almost 1/2 what the 'Economical plan costs. :eek:

So, if you do research insurance options, consider calling and asking about that option. BTW- I also have the cancer rider with SO payed off on Auggie (of course we all know I wish that never needed to be used :( ). Also, if you can afford to pay annually instead of monthly payments you also save on the payment plan monthly fees. Make sure you discuss EVERY piece of what goes into your payment as their system tries to automatically add pieces assuming you'll take them. Just ask. The employees are unbelievably friendly and caring.

 

Lastly, I'm actually surprised that the moderators having banished this thread to the land of off topic threads.

 

Erika

[Heidils]

First, yes, insurance isn't cheap for critters. Especially when you have multiples and they are larger dogs and of course with any pre-existing conditions.

With that said, let me offer my experience with VPI. We bought it for Auggie when he was just a few months old in 2002. Last year when I went to price for Cody (the pup we rescued last fall) the price was WAY higher with different co-pay deductible structure and higher annual costs. I didn't even see the 'real' basic plan we had. So I called and asked. They said what I had was their basic plan that they don't advertise but it was still available. That brought the price back down to reasonable. The plan I have is called the 'Standard Plan' costs almost 1/2 what the 'Economical plan costs. :eek:

So, if you do research insurance options, consider calling and asking about that option. BTW- I also have the cancer rider with SO payed off on Auggie (of course we all know I wish that never needed to be used :( ). Also, if you can afford to pay annually instead of monthly payments you also save on the payment plan monthly fees. Make sure you discuss EVERY piece of what goes into your payment as their system tries to automatically add pieces assuming you'll take them. Just ask. The employees are unbelievably friendly and caring.

 

Lastly, I'm actually surprised that the moderators having banished this thread to the land of off topic threads.

 

Erika

 

Thank you for keeping this thread, it is well needed. It is after all a question regarding how to handle a ROYAL cruise with this situation.

[2tall]

I read this thread when it first came out but didn't reply because, frankly, I wasn't sure what to advise. You have gotten some good comments, though, and it sounds like leaving your fur baby with either the vet (who can address any problems that come up) or a trusted dog sitter should give you the confidence to take the trip and enjoy it.

 

We lost our collie, Einstein, in 2001 after a long battle with heart disease. Since then, we've had only cats. A LOT of cats, which we love. One has idiopathic epilepsy and though that condition isn't fatal (typically), I still hate leaving her. We take her with us when we can just to keep an eye on her but I still have to hold my breath when we leave on a cruise or go out of the country since I envision all of these awful weird things happening (like cluster seizures or a particularly awful grand mal seizure that lasts long enough to cause brain damage). So I know how you feel. We have to keep reminding ourselves to keep a balance between what's good for her (and the other fabulous felines) and what's good for us.

 

By the way, I appreciate that so many of you with dobermans chose to keep the ears natural. While the cropped ears do help in terms of making the dogs look fierce, I've seen some nasty crop jobs and it makes me want to cry. And those natural floppy ears just soften up the look and make what could be a ferocious looking dog seem much more approachable (not that the dog is any less of a guardian--just less scary). My brother-in-law's rescue dobe is a sweetheart and the poor thing has ears that were so mangled that they curl over the top of his head rather than standing straight up. So glad that they got him away from his previous owner (who did the crop job himself--what an *insert a very nasty name for a person here*).

[golfer1966]

Hmm..I wonder how many laughs I would get with RCI about cancelling/changing a cruise because of a sickness in the family....dog. :eek:

 

Facts:

We are scheduled to set sail on Oasis on Sept 1st -7 weeks and 4 days from now with my DH, Mom and Dad. We have planned and looked forward to this cruise since April (I know that is not as long as most plan, but it sure does seem long!). Our flights are booked through RCI's Choice Air roundtrip from ATL. Final payment has come and gone. We have trip insurance through RCI.

 

Now, a little background and the latest drama:

The DH and I are 25 and have been married 2 years. We do not have "human" children, but instead have 3 dobermans who are most likely more spoiled than some children (hence the s/n). Last year (the weekend we closed on our first house we had built) our "first born dog" Diesel tore his CCL (ACL in humans). Without thinking twice we spent the $4k to go to a specialized orthopedic vet 2 hours away in Atlanta for the surgery to fix him (The surgery is called a TPLO- they cut off the top of his tibia and rotated it to change the angle then fused the bone back together with a metal plate and screws and the only option for a dog of his size, age and power). It was a long 12 weeks of confinement and recovery but he healed beautifully and after 6 months my "vicous" 96-lbs Doberman was back to his 100% self doing his favorite thing- chasing birds and butterflies around the back yard. This alone confirmed that we made the right choice in doing the surgery so he could return to his youthful quality of life.

 

Flash foward to this past Saturday- we noticed he was limping again on that same leg. We thought he was begining to reject the metal implant they used in surgery (they told us this was a possibility and it would have to be removed should it occur). So we took him to our regular vet as soon as they opened Monday to get x-rays done and sent to the ortho vet for review determining what was next.

 

Well, yesterday I recieve a call from the ortho vet. He had good news and bad. After reviewing the x-rays he determined the metal plate was fine and not the problem. The problem is that he had fractured his patella. So we rushed him up to Atlanta last night and spent another hunk of cash equivalent to a really nice cruise for the surgery to fix this- again, I was told he is too big of a dog, too young and full of power for this to ever heal on his own. He was in surgery for 3 hours today but the vet says everything went smoothly and he is happy with how it looks. (I had been a nervous wreck all day waiting to hear news and probably annoyed the vet staff to no end calling every 2 hours for an update while he was waiting to go into surgery/in surgery/and post surgery- I don't see how you parents handle this!) We can pick him up tomorrow and start the recovery process again!

 

The Problem:

He has pins, titanium rods, and wires spanning the entire length of his leg on the outside to immobilize the knee while it heals. This will come off by week 6 which puts us dangerously close to him being boarded when Sept 1st comes around. Remember, we leave in 7 weeks and 4 days.

 

I have no idea what we are going to do. If all goes well we may be able to board him with our vet who can monitor him closely and keep him confined as the recovery protocol states, but it makes me so nervous to leave him as of right now. The only trusted dog-sitter I would leave him with, my mother, will be on the cruise!

 

I don't know where to go next. Should we cancel the cruise now or wait and see how he improves over the next few weeks. We will speak with both the ortho vet and our regular vet tomorrow when we pick him up, but when I spoke with him today and yesterday the cruise was in the back of my mind.

 

So, with the novel I just wrote. What would you do? Any helpful advice, insight or ideas would be really appreciated. I just ask everyone to kindly spare me the "I would've put the dog down" comments as it was not an option and I've gotten enough of those from family, "friends", and coworkers. How could you do that to a dog this cute?

 

 

Just a few comments....

1) Beautiful dog. I am glad to see you didnt dock his ears. :D

2) I agree with all that you did. We have 4 dogs ( 3 labs and a golden retriever...all rescues ) The golden is 16 mos old and we had FHO Surgery on him for Hip Dysplasia, so we feel your pain in the cost dept....:eek: BUT they are sooo worth it.

3) As you mentioned, let him with the vet. He is in good hands there. They know what is best and he will be confined to let the leg heal. Im sure you can call daily and check on him. We let our Golden at the Vet a few extra days too so he could start mending asap.

4) It sounds you are kinda stressed over all of this, so the cruise may be good for all of you - especially the dog as he will get lots of rest and TLC from the Vet. Go and have fun....call daily to make yourself feel better too.

[Loves_Dogs]

I am thrilled to see so many people here have rescue animals. My Chewie is a rescue as well as my previous dog Moose. A big THANK YOU for those of you who opened their homes and hearts up to a recycled furbaby.